Just dinner outside, followed by family time in the tent, laughter, some hide-and-seek in the sleeping bags, hushed conversations, sleep, being awakened by the chatter of squirrels courting or fighting overhead (hard to tell).

The fact that this spending of time together in nature, this family bonding, has become perfectly commonplace for me and the children: well, it makes me realize just how lucky and lovely my life is.

Measure your happiness and successes not by the extraordinary events in your life, but by how content you feel in the ordinary spaces in between.